After Regan checked the train schedule, she hurried into the bedroom. A train was leaving Penn Station in an hour. I’m glad that for once I started packing in advance, she thought as she tossed more clothes into her suitcase.

Regan couldn’t stop thinking about Hayley and how upset she was. I wish there was some great guy I could introduce her to, Regan thought as she gathered her toiletries. But if there were, Kit would kill me if I didn’t introduce her first.

Kit was Regan’s best friend, who lived in Hartford and worked for an insurance company. They’d met in junior year of college when they’d spent a semester in England. Kit was still searching for Mr. Right. Since Regan found Jack, she was always on the lookout for someone for Kit.

So far, the pickings had been slim. Kit had spent the Fourth of July weekend with them in Spring Lake. Regan set Kit up on a blind date that had been a disaster. Thinking back on the moment Kit came back to the house after dinner, Regan laughed out loud.

“Regan!” Kit had cried. “Are you out of your mind?”

“Was it that bad?” Regan asked meekly.

“That bad? It was worse. When you told me that you and Jack met him on the beach, I had such a fantasy in my mind of what he’d be like,” Kit said with amazement. “Okay, he’s my age, single, not bad looking and well educated, but I never imagined he’d spend the entire evening discussing his fascination with invertebrates.”

“Invertebrates?”

“Invertebrates.”

“When I got stung by a jellyfish he was very helpful,” Regan explained. “He had vinegar in his bag that he put on my leg. He knew exactly what to do.”

“Didn’t that give you a hint of what he was like?” Kit had asked incredulously. “Most of the guys I dated never bring suntan lotion to the beach. This guy had a supply of vinegar! And listen to this: when we sat down he gave me one of those wipes for your hands. And he asked for separate bread baskets.”

“He does sound strange. But I’m trying, Kit.”

“And please don’t stop.” Kit paused for a millisecond. “I appreciate your efforts on my behalf, Regan. I really do. But this guy was obsessed by creatures without spinal columns.”

“Then there’s no way you’d be right for each other,” Regan laughed.

Glancing at the clock radio, Regan started to move faster. She closed her suitcase, reached for the phone, and dialed Jack’s number.

“Everything okay?” he asked quickly.

“Yes, fine,” Regan said. “My mother called,” she began, then quickly filled him in on the garage sale.

“How did Cleo Paradise end up renting the house?”